


It's the Thought That Counts

by PriorityNaps



Series: SNIPPETS [3]
Category: Gintama
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Making Up, Romance, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 10:03:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19972246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PriorityNaps/pseuds/PriorityNaps
Summary: (Hijikata/Gintoki)When Hijikata tries doing something out of the kindness of his heart, it ultimately backfires. It's possibly because he has an immature roommate.





	It's the Thought That Counts

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not trying to copy/steal anyone's ideas with this series. I'd decided to create this on my own and was not influenced by someone else's works.

Hijikata doesn’t want to do this. He truly does not want to enter that dumb bakery that makes his sinuses melt, but he does it anyway. This place is one of Gintoki’s many favorites, and since it’s on his way home from classes, he could easily drop by and grab a little something for the perm head. He honestly can’t comprehend why the fuck he’s willing to go out of his way to do something as nice as this for such an asshole, but it is what it is. 

The place smells like vanilla cake. It’s the first thing that hits his senses after the bell chiming up above when he swings the door open. It’s not particularly fancy― just a cozy, charming-looking bakery that’s frequented by people of all ages. It’s a neat place filled with booths lining the walls and tables between them, and piano music playing over the speakers. Today business seems slow to moderate, which is good because Hijikata sure as hell does _not_ want to be seen buying a strawberry shortcake by someone he knows. 

There’s only one lady at the cash register who looks about his age and three other people in front of him. The guy ordering is taking forever. Hijikata would guess he’s a first-timer, judging by the way he’s asking so many questions. Was the concept of bakeries really that confusing? Even the cashier looks annoyed, and the woman in front of him is tapping her foot impatiently. 

That’s… fine, in a way. Hijikata can get a good look at the large display of desserts by the counter and take his sweet old time picking something out, pun not intended. Seriously, though, the variety here is almost mindblowing. He can’t even pronounce half the names of the stuff here since they’re native to countries in freaking Europe or some shit. No wonder Gintoki loves this place.

The man up front’s finally done. He shuffles away kind of awkwardly and stands closeby so he could pick up his order when it’s ready. He must’ve purchased a coffee since you don’t wait to pick up a sweet. Maybe Hijikata should get a coffee, too. What’s the harm? He’s been dragged here against his will countless times, so he remembers that it’s not too expensive. 

He finds what he’s looking for in the gigantic display, but seeing so many other things like it makes him want to change his mind. Besides, Gintoki almost always buys something strawberry-flavored here.

Hijikata remembers him saying something about not really liking milk chocolate, so that’s out. What about cheesecake? Did Gintoki like cheesecake?

The line moves forward again. The lady ahead of him is quick to order herself a dark roast― his personal favorite. He’s not too happy about that because before he knows it, the cashier is leaning forward, greeting him with a coquettish smile and asking ‘What can I get for ya?’ in a too-sappy tone for his comfort. He admits he’s a bit dense, but this flirting is a little too obvious. 

“Um… can I get a hazelnut coffee?”

“Sure thing, dear! I'd never expected someone as young as you to order a coffee! What size would you like?”

Hijikata’s mind is reeling a little at being called ‘dear’. _No one_ has ever called him that. Except maybe Gintoki. Hell, who is he kidding? Of _course_ Gintoki’s called him that to grate on his nerves. 

“M-medium,” he manages.

She picks up the medium-sized plastic cup from its stack and uses a black marker to scribble something on it. She sets it to the side and that’s when Hijikata sees the name on the dark-haired cashier’s tag is ‘Nayami’. 

“Is that all?”

“No, uh, I’ll also get…” 

He sweeps his gaze over the display shelves again for longer than he wants to. How did Gintoki do this? Just about every baked item he can think of, which frankly isn’t much, is here. It’s kind of overwhelming.

“Do you need help picking something?”

The cashier’s watching him again with that face. Hijikata wills himself not to visibly squirm.

“Yeah, thanks.”

“No problem! Any particular flavor you’re looking for? Or a dessert type?”

Hijikata purses his lips.

“Mmm. Cheesecake? And something with berries, maybe…?”

“Good choice! Let’s see, we have...” 

She looks around like how people often do when they’re thinking and twists her fingers together.

“There’s just plain blueberry, there’s white chocolate raspberry―that’s my favorite―, and blackberry and raspberry swirl―”

“I’ll take that.”

Nayami stops and blinks at him. Hijikata’s immediately under the assumption that he’s said something wrong and his heart rate spikes. 

“Which one, dear?”

“That… swirl thing,” he says, the tips of his ears burning a little.

“Oh, okay!” She grabs a box that’s close to the register and takes a few steps toward the display. “Just one slice, correct?”

Hijikata nods and digs through his pocket for his wallet while the cashier grabs him a slice that he swears is nearly twice as big as the normal serving, and puts in the box. She sets it on the counter and taps a few keys on the register to put his order in the system and tell him the price.

“That’ll be 620 yen for the coffee and 340 for the slice.”

Hijikata pulls out the bills and hands them to her, then jumps in his skin when she feels her fingers brush deliberately against his palm. When he looks up he sees her gaze lingering on him while she stashes the money away and counts out his change. 

_We’re in public, dammit! This is indecency!_

“40 yen’s your change. Would you like a receipt?” 

“Y-yeah.” 

“Alright, here ya go.”

Hijikata uses his index and thumb to pluck the small slip of paper from her hand and hopes she didn’t notice him trying to avoid contact.

“I’ll go make your coffee, okay? Hang on to this,” She places the box in a small plastic bag then pushes it his way with a smile before turning away. 

Hijikata takes the box and walks to the side to wait for his drink and that’s when he sees there are at least six people behind him, all of them pissed that the cashier left when there’s already an employee back there. They probably think Nayami is his girlfriend or something and he’s getting special treatment. Two of them are glaring at him so he looks away as casually as possible and tugs at his ponytail. 

He’s been here not ten minutes and vows to never again come back alone. 

-x-X-x-X-x-

The walk to the dorms is perhaps the fastest in his life. Hijikata had half-jogged, half-walked the whole time and was nearly hit by a car when he didn’t look both ways when crossing the street to his building. He wants to kill Gintoki for making him step foot in that cursed bakery and is ticked off by the fact that the perm head never even told him to do this; it’s on his own volition. 

His coffee’s basically done now― there are just a few sips― so he tosses the whole thing back, almost chokes, and flings the empty cup at the garbage can by the dorm entrance. He enters the building quickly and decides to climb the stairs since there are others waiting for the elevator. It’s just four flights anyway, he’ll live. 

He waits to catch his breath when he reaches the top before heading down the hall to his room. His lazy ass of a roommate always complains about it being so far from the elevators but it’s close to the stairs so Hijikata has no problem at present. He pats his pockets for the room key, then his backpack and finds it in there. When he pushes the door open he finds Gintoki lying on his stomach with… was that a _book_?

“Is that a _book_?”

Gintoki looks up.

“Really? _That’s_ the first thing you say to me after all those grueling hours away from me?”

Hijikata scoffs and shuts the door, then gets to peeling his shoes off.

“Don’t get full of yourself. Time away from you is precious.”

Gintoki waves a dismissive hand at him and returns to the book.

“It’s alright, Toshi, you don’t have to admit your longing for me out loud.”

“Shut up, you.”

Gintoki chuckles merrily and the sound of it warms Hijikata’s chest a little. There was always something about the pitch of the perm head’s laugh and the smile that lingered on his face afterward that made Hijikata almost want to smile too. 

Almost. 

“Whatcha readin’?”

He hears more than one page flip in response and that automatically tells him Gintoki isn’t actually reading. 

“I see.”

Hijikata walks over to Gintoki’s sprawled out form on the couch and sets the bag on the table before all but plopping himself on top of his roommate and folding his arms where his shoulder blades are. 

“I got you cake,” he mumbles into his neck. 

Gintoki's reaction is immediate. He lets loose one of those high-pitched squeals of his and turns his head so abruptly Hijikata’s afraid he got whiplash. The book gets slammed shut and dropped on the floor by the couch they’re both lying on. Hijikata rolls off Gintoki so the other could sit up properly and see what’s in store for him. 

“Whoa, is that _cheesecake_?”

Hijikata nods and tugs his ponytail loose to redo it. Gintoki’s got a sparkle in his eyes that’s only reserved for surprises and Hijikata feels a little proud for giving him that dose of excitement. It’s just cake in his own eyes, but the same could be said for his favorites, too. He loves receiving them from others and tries returning the favor as often as he could, but he will admit he doesn’t put in as much effort as he should. 

“How’d you get the worker to give you such a huge slice?”

Hijikata rolls his eyes and combs his hair with his fingers.

“Don’t you dare make me go back to that shop again,” is all he says to that, but by the change in Gintoki’s expression, he knows the other gets it.

“Wow, what number are we at now? Twelve?” 

“I don’t keep track of that shit.”

“But you should! Do you know what others are willing to go through to get hit on by that many people in a month?” Gintoki laughs. “Gimme a fork.”

“Get it yourself.”

“Come on, pleeease?”

“I _know_ you’ve been lying there all day. Give this to me,” he takes the box from Gintoki, “and get the fork yourself.”

“I’ll just use my hands!”

“ _Hell_ no.”

Gintoki makes a whiny noise and pouts like the kid he is, but Hijikata’s having none of it. 

“I’m gonna count to three.”

Gintoki swipes at the box but Hijikata moves it out of his reach.

“One.”

Gintoki presses himself into the couch’s back as a show of stubbornness.

“ _Two_.”

Gintoki pouts some more.

“Thr―”

“Fine, you asshole! I’m getting up, see? I’m getting the fork!” 

He stomps his feet to and back and is visibly fuming. It’s almost funny that he’s got no one to blame. It kind of makes Hijikata feel smug.

The couch sinks with Gintoki’s weight when he drops himself on it and he immediately holds out a hand for the box.

“What’s the magic word?”

“ _Please_ ,” he grits out.

The box is handed over with an audible snicker from Hijikata’s end. 

“Hey, hey,” Gintoki jabs the fork in his direction. “Don’t you laugh at Gin-san’s expense.”

“What, I can’t laugh if I find something funny?”

“Oi! You think me saying the word ‘please’ is funny?”

“Not really, you’re just funny when you’re mad.” There’s a lilt in his tone that gives away Hijikata’s amusement.

Gintoki narrows his eyes and stabs the cake slice with his fork.

“Oh? So you wanna play this game, Toshi?”

He already knows he’d lose if he agrees, he always did. So he simply rests his arm over the couch’s back and shakes his head no. 

“Thought so.”

The idiot finally starts eating, that sparkle in his eyes returning, and Hijikata could do nothing but watch. He doesn’t have anything important to do anyway, and watching his roommate eat is entertaining to say in the least. Gintoki’s a little messy and a fast eater, but right now he’s taking his time. It’s probably because the sweet counts as a rare surprise from Hijikata and he wants to savor it as much as he could. Sometimes he makes this really odd face when he's chewing that looks like he's getting the blowjob of his life. 

“I should take you with me more often when I visit sweet shops,” Gintoki says dreamily.

“Why’s that?”

The open box gets shoved in Hijikata's face. 

“Do you see the _size_ of this piece? It’s almost twice as big as a normal one!”

“Okay, and?”

Gintoki line-faces.

“There’s only one reason why someone would give their customer extra for free. Aside from being related, that is.”

Hijikata wrinkles his nose.

“You are _not_ using me for your personal benefit and exploitation!”

“Why not?”

“Because! That’s not fair! You can’t do that, idiot! And... and that wouldn’t always work, you know!”

“Yeah, but it mostly could.”

“You don’t know that!”

Gintoki’s next response is colder than ice.

“Some boyfriend you are. You don’t even wish for my happiness.” 

And with that, Gintoki turns bodily away from him and goes back to stabbing at his cheesecake. There’s no guessing that he’s angry.

“Wh-wha―!”

Hijikata can’t pinpoint where in their conversation Gintoki had produced that notion but isn’t all that taken aback because the guy tends to do it a _lot_. He’d say certain things that would, in turn, make Hijikata also say certain things, and those certain things worked together to upset him. Hijikata never realizes what he’s getting himself into when this happens until it’s a bit too late. It really bothers him that, despite being thrown in such situations too many times for him to count, he ends up making the same mistakes.

That wasn’t important now, though. He had an angry Gintoki sitting less than ten feet away from him, which was not good. Plus, his little gift basically backfired. Maybe this is why Hijikata doesn’t like giving gifts. That act of kindness wasn’t made for him.

Now what? An apology wouldn’t be enough. The last time he tried that Gintoki had only gotten more ticked off at his “lack of sincerity”. Hijikata’s not good with words, so a talk won’t do either. 

He exhales through his nose and scoots forward, legs crossed, as quietly as he could. He’s not good with this either, but it’s all he’s got for now, so he’s going to roll with it. 

Gintoki has gone quiet in front of him. Either he’s finished the box’s contents or he’s trying not to cry. It’s definitely the former, but the second option is also worth mentioning. 

Hijikata stops when he’s close enough, then winds both arms like a lasso around the other’s waist. Gintoki makes some surprised noise and stiffens a bit, but doesn’t relent when he’s slowly and gently pulled back until he could feel Hijikata’s chest against the top of his shoulder blades. He’s not necessarily lying down, but his spine’s bent in a way that’s nice and comfortable. 

Hijikata pries Gintoki’s fingers away from the box and sets the thing on the table, then tilts his chin up and cups it tenderly so they’re looking straight at each other. He ghosts his fingers over his roommate’s jaw and cheek, relaxing when he sees the tiny shiver that racks Gintoki’s body because _i_ _t’s working, woohoo!_ , and keeps going until he reaches the neat curls at his temple, pushing them back to reveal Gintoki’s forehead. He plants the first kiss there and barely has to lean down with how close their faces are. 

His other hand’s busy rubbing itself up and down on Gintoki’s torso because he knows that whole area is a sensitive spot. He could tell even now that it is from the way Gintoki’s back arches just the tiniest bit every now and then when his fingers reach a spot just shy of his rib cage. 

His mouth has reached his neck by now, nipping playfully but mostly pressing kisses, and he decides to work his way back up to where Gintoki’s jaw is. Closer and closer he gets until finally, he flicks out his tongue for Gintoki to open up and they’re kissing for real, a mess of lips and tongues and even teeth. Hijikata didn’t mean for it to be this rough but knew he was being carried away long ago. 

The hand holding Gintoki’s hair back is now combing through the curls, and he doesn’t care that his fingers keep getting tangled. Gintoki doesn’t seem to mind either, or he’s just too absorbed by the nails now scratching lightly at his abdomen. He usually puts in effort to keep quiet in times like these but is genuinely pleased that Hijikata is doing all this as a form of apology. The guy deserves some credit, and he knows Hijikata feels a sense of accomplishment when he gets noise out of him. His little moans are lost in the kiss, but he knows Hijikata can hear them.

He doesn’t know how Hijikata managed it while still keeping their faces close, but he’s soon flat on his back and his fingers are working the hair tie out and twisting themselves in those long, dark locks. He feels Hijikata tug at his shirt and is more than okay with sitting up enough so that it’s pulled over his head. 

Not long after they find themselves wrapped in embrace, too tired to move but never more content. It's a little gross how their sweat is making them stick to each other, but inside, Hijikata feels wonderful.

Because he knows he's been forgiven. 

**Author's Note:**

> End notes are nice but like.
> 
> Do people read them?


End file.
